Massive harvest, sales mark October marijuana market

Increasing sales and the promise of additional inventory marked a massive October in Washington's legal marijuana market.

For the third straight month, Spokane County's 15 operating recreational marijuana stores posted a sales total greater than the month before. For the first time since June, each store reported a gain in sales to the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board.

Inventory is not something stores will likely have to worry about, either. Producers reported a harvest of 35,487 pounds of marijuana statewide in October. That figure easily set the record for most marijuana harvested in Washington state so far, surpassing September's total of 14,127 pounds, according to state statistics.

Since December 2014, about 52 tons of marijuana have been harvested in Washington state. That's far less than the state's traditional cash crops, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Washington grew 3.6 million tons of apples; 252,000 tons of cherries and 48,050 tons of blueberries in 2014, according to NASS statistics.

Sales numbers suggest much of that harvested marijuana has not yet been sold to processors or stores, however. Spokane County producers reported sales of $340,670, down from September's total of $413,053. Producers, like Washington's Finest Cannabis, look ready for a successful November.

The five Spokane County stores selling the most recreational marijuana in October were (September totals in parenthesis):

Kip Hill joined The Spokesman-Review in 2013. He currently is a reporter for the City Desk, covering the marijuana industry, local politics and breaking news. He previously hosted the newspaper's podcast.